S&W SD9VE opinions?

[FergusonTO35]

I remember that during the couple of years where both the SD and Sigma were available you could get the latter for like two bills if you shopped around. Heavy trigger or not, that's always a good deal for a USA made pistol from a respected maker.

[William Yanda]

Didn't S&W admit that some of these were designed for a limited number of rounds as opposed to a lifetime of regular use?

[jdgabbard]

Didn't S&W admit that some of these were designed for a limited number of rounds as opposed to a lifetime of regular use?

I've never once heard that. If that is the case, I think I surpassed their limit probably 10-20 thousand rounds ago. No seriously, I've put probably close to 30 Thousand cast loads through mine, and it's still in awesome shape. Actually, I was just thinking I should probably replace my magazine springs at this point...

[skrapyard628]

Ive got one of the older SW40VE pistols. I even picked up a complete 9mm slide for it. Gun was $200 new ($250 with a $50 rebate when I got it) and the 9mm slide was $75. The 9mm mags supposedly dont fit the frame for the 40 so I just squeezed in the feed lips on a couple 40 mags and I use them for 9mm. Surprisingly it feeds 9mm fine with the modded mags.

The trigger on it was long, gritty, and about 12lbs when it was new. I sanded and cleaned up the plastic areas around where the "sear" is and that helped the gritty problem, and then tossed an apex spring kit into it. Not sure exactly how many pounds the pull is now but it feels like about 6lbs. Im happy with what I use it for. Its my chrono testing gun. Whenever Im loading a new combo of bullet/powder the sigma comes out.

Its never failed to go bang, and it feeds any ammo I feed it so its been a decent gun for how cheap it was. And Ive been purposely neglecting any cleaning on it just to see if it will ever fail. I lost count after around 10k rounds through it, and It still hasnt been cleaned or had any malfunctions. I do add more oil to the sludge pool inside of it occasionally, and check the barrel/run a brush through it once in a while.

[ACC]

I have the SD9 and SD 40. Very accurate. Will take any ammo I have put through them. Nothing but cast. The trigger gets a lot better after about 200 rounds.

ACC

[FergusonTO35]

Didn't S&W admit that some of these were designed for a limited number of rounds as opposed to a lifetime of regular use?

That would be the short lived Sigma .380. Good idea that was very poorly executed. As I understand it, S&W will swap you a new Bodyguard for it.

[JRD]

The “felt” inside the trigger return spring isn’t felt. I don’t know what exactly it is, but it’s definitely resistant to whatever chemicals a gun may encounter. I’ve heard it called a cigarette filter…. Its purpose is to dampen vibration in the extension spring.
The SD has a new sear mechanism compared to the Sigma which had a terrible trigger pull.

[FergusonTO35]

On the topic of Sigmas, there was a very short lived 9mm version of the Sigma .380. A gun that was marginal in .380 was up sized a bit and chambered in 9mm. As I understand they were recalled not long after introduction due to fragmenting slides. If S&W had simply downsized the standard Sigma producing a real subcompact locked breech 9mm they would have been way ahead of everybody else.

[FergusonTO35]

Well, guess I am now committed to buying an SD. Just won five new factory 16 round mags for c-note on GB.

[CastingFool]

No, it's not odd to buy a gun from a Uhaul/motorcycle place. Alot of totally unrelated businesses have FFL's, I've bought guns from a hair salon and a pet store.[/QUOTE]

I've bought a couple guns from a place that prints stuff on t-shirts, etc

[FergusonTO35]

Picked up the SD9 today and I'm impressed. The trigger is actually decent. Kind of heavy (which is hardly unique) but really smooth and repeatable. Definitely not the gritty 40 pound trigger that the Sigma had, in fact it feels better than the stock trigger on my gen. 4 Glocks when they were new. All my lead bullet loads plunk in the chamber just fine. Only thing I don't like so far is the notch on the rear sight is too big for my taste. The SD uses the same sights as the M&P so there should be a lot of options. Hope to make noise with it on Friday!

[Tradbowhunter]

Hope you enjoy it as much as i do Ferguson! Shoot enough rounds through it and you wont have to worry about the rear sights.

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks. If I like it enough I'll probably get a .40 to match. Interestingly, the shop had an older SD40 under the glass, and the trigger pull was alot worse. It looks like S&W changed the trigger mechanism at some point. Judging from used parts on Fleabay, some SD's had the Sigma style sear assembly.

[Johnch]

I have a Sigma in 40 S&W (SW40VE I think )

YEARS ago a friend cleaned up the trigger on it for me
It was never really bad , just a bit heavy and a LONG pull
But when he was done it was smooth and the trigger pull is about 6 lb now
Not great , but a big improvement

Never had problems with it
I still sometimes stick it in the armrest when I go fishing

John

[FergusonTO35]

I took the SD9 for a quick test drive behind the house after work today with my pet cast bullet load. Every round functioned perfectly and fouling seemed to be minimal. The bad news is, most shots were low left. Which always means that me and the trigger are not getting along. The Apex spring kit is only 20.00 so I went ahead and ordered one. The good news is, the shots that I didn't pull seemed to be dead on. So it will be a work in progress!

[FergusonTO35]

Also, don't know why I didn't think of this before. I prefer the front dot on a handgun sight to sit at the bottom of the rear notch. The SD9 notch is too deep to sight this way. I have some scraps of black stick-on grip material from my Glocks, basically an adhesive backed rubbery plastic. I trimmed a strip to fit the width of the notch and stuck it in place. Added another strip on top of that and now the notch is perfect for my taste. I might also black out the rear dots as none of my other pistols have a three dot setup.

[FergusonTO35]

Apex kit showed up and I put it in the SD9. This one came with RP springs for trigger, firing pin, and firing pin plunger. The sear spring was missing so I sent the company a message about it. Once installed, the difference was pretty dramatic even with the OEM sear spring. I would guess it went from over 8 pounds to about 5, and the take up is a lot smoother.

I fired some of my favorite loads (3.8 grains HP-38/130 grain LFP) in the backyard and now the pistol is way easier to shoot with accuracy. In fact I can now stage the trigger for a really nice break. Accuracy seems to be pretty close to my Glock 19, I'm sure it will get better the more I shoot it. As an added bonus the bore is really shiny and it actually has a throat, so lead slugs do great. Planning to get an SD40 also at some point.

[460S&W]

I’ve got a fair amount of experience in selling these when they first came out and my advice was if you couldn’t spend more than it is was an okish pistol for the money, however, I usually tried to tell people to save up a bit more for something nicer.

[FergusonTO35]

With the spring kit installed, I really don't see the SD as inferior to any other pistol in the sub-$600.00 range. The design is simple and solid, the materials and workmanship seem up to the standards of any other competitive marque out there including Ruger, Glock, and Springfield. Like the gen. 1-3 Glocks it is a take it or leave it product not available with any options such as grip shape and angle or a manual safety. If that works for you and you are happy with that configuration, I'm not sure what else you would gain by spending more. So far, I'm impressed with it!

[FergusonTO35]

I've now put around 200 rounds through the SD9 and it is doing well. The pistol seems to be dead on with my pet load of 3.8 grains HP-38/Arsenal 358-130-RF at 1.070. Does pretty good with the Lee 356-120 too. It has never malfunctioned in any way and the barrel really seems to like lead slugs. I now have a paddle holster and mag pouch for the SD9 so it can accompany me in the woods.

Only things I don't like about it in stock form are the trigger pull (easily remedied with the spring kit) and the depth of the rear sight notch. The way I aim, I have the front dot sitting at the bottom of the notch, which hits low with this pistol. I built up the notch with a small strip of stick-on grip material and now it is perfect. So far I really like this pistol, and look forward to wringing it out more.